Although, primarily used for financial transactions, a blockchain can store various information related to goods and services (i.e., products, packages, statuses, etc.). A decentralized scheme provides authority and trust to a decentralized network and enables its nodes to continuously and sequentially record transactions on a public “block”, creating a unique “chain” referred to as a blockchain. Hashing may be used to create an immutable ledger without the need for a central intermediary. The records (e.g., transactions) stored on the blockchain are secured from tampering and revision due to the immutable properties of the blocks storing the transactions. Furthermore, because a blockchain is a distributed system, before adding a block of transactions to a blockchain ledger, peers need to reach a consensus status.
A permissioned blockchain has different organizations with different stakes and authorities all sharing access to a single data structure (the blockchain). Depending on these stakes and authorities, different governance models may be adopted. Governance policies are critical to a blockchain because they formalize mechanisms for creating, updating, and abandoning elements of the blockchain. In particular, the governance rules enable a blockchain network to fix issues as needed. Such fixes can address fraud and hacks, and also ensure that members are satisfied with the system. Conventionally, governance rules are agreed to and managed socially (off-chain). However, the governance rules agreed to off-chain are static, not enforceable by members other than an admin, and they are not modifiable. As such, what is needed is a better way for governing a blockchain.